Wild Salmon Seafood Market employee Victor Pangan holds a 40-pound wild king salmon caught in the Columbia River. Because of the river's proximity to Seattle, Columbia River salmon can often be bought less than 24 hours after they come out of the water.<br><br>During the season, the Seafood Market can go through 200-300 pounds of salmon a day. A salmon this size would yield roughly 56 8 oz. fillets. <b>Photo by Dean Wong</b>
The fortunes of Ballard have never been far removed from those of its fishermen. When the fleet prospers, so do Ballard's shipbuilders and net makers, bankers, brokers and merchants.
- Kris Freeman, "Passport to Ballard"
The fortunes of Ballard have changed. Our community could survive without fishermen today. The rise of condominiums isn't being driven by gill-netters. The white tablecloth restaurants on Ballard Avenue won't whither without the patronage of fishermen in grimy coveralls.
But Ballard's industrial heart will.
Freeman's net makers and brokers would follow the boats to new places, one business attracting another until a community was built around the business of fish.
In Ballard, the lots wouldn't stay empty long. The usual cabal of developers would soon scurry into the gap to make their next fortune.
But what a hollow shell Ballard would be without its fishermen. It's true that sometimes they are just absentee tenants, commuting to jobs over the horizon. But every arrival and departure adds to their collective story, and sends an echo of it bouncing along the ship canal. They remind us why we wanted to be here in the first place, to chase kindred spirits as far as we could without becoming fishermen ourselves.
So on the eve of the 32nd Annual Seafood Fest, the Ballard News-Tribune and BallardNewsTribune.com would like to thank the men and women whose business is with the sea. You didn't know you pulled us along in your wake, but we're grateful.
